


Jobs And Dungeons

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Original Character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-07-29
Updated: 2000-07-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 01:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14780927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Two big changes in Roni's life, both for the better





	1. Jobs And Dungeons

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Disclaimer: Not mine, except Roni and those created around her.

Notes: Thanks to chelle for betaing this for me. The press conference CJ gives is an excerpt from a real one given by Joe Lockhart.

Spoilers: Two big changes in Roni's life, both for the better.

Jobs and Dungeons Part 1

Early in the day, Roni was making her way through the halls of the White House, when she was very close to the Oval Office. So she decided to stop by and say hi to her father.

"Hey kiddo."

"Hi dad."

"What's up?"

"I want to get a job."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I get really bored around here with nothing to do, so I want to get a job. And I was wondering if you could talk to whoever with the secret service so they won't have a problem with it."

"What kind of job do you have in mind?"

"Well I already put some applications in."

"Where?"

"Sears, Belks, Penny's, places like that."

"When?"

"The other day. In fact, all the places called back and offered me a job. The only thing is that I'm not sure which I want."

"So basically you got a job already, now you want to spring it on the service?"

"Yep, basically. So you gonna help me?"

"What do I get out of it?"

"What do you want out of it?"

"I don't know, but you're gonna owe me."

"So you're gonna help me?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Thanks, dad." Roni said as she kissed her father on the cheek and ran out of the office.

After pressing the intercom button, Jed said, "Mrs. Landingham, I'm going to need to meet with Butterfield, Johnson, and the rest of Roni's detail as soon as they all have a free moment."

****************************

Around lunchtime, Zoey and Roni are both sitting in the living room, waiting for Jed and Abbey, because they are supposed to eat lunch as a family. While waiting, Zoey struck up conversation.

"So what place did you choose?"

"Huh?"

"Where are you going to work? I wanna know what place to avoid in the mall from here on out."

"Funny, Zoey, funny."

"Seriously, where you gonna work?"

"I have it narrowed down to Sears and Belks. They both offered me the position I wanted."

"What position do you want?"

"Working in the men's department."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. Why would I be kidding?"

"Have you told dad yet?"

"I don't believe I have, no."

Just then, Jed entered the room, to see his two daughters engaged in conversation.

"Hello you two, what's up in the world of gossip these days?"

"I don't gossip."

"Roni was just telling me that she has her job choice narrowed down to two places."

"Zoey!"

"Oh, what are they?"

"Sears and Belks."

"You should be asking yourself what department of Sears and Belks she would be working in, dad."

"Zoey!"

"Okay, what do you two know, that I don't know."

"Nothing dad."

"Roni applied to work in the men's department of both stores, probably so she could meet guys."

****************************

CJ entered the pressroom that day, she begun the day's briefings, which was so far routine, until she accidentally slipped. Then she ended up spending several minutes talking about something that hadn't originally been planned.

"In two weeks, the President will travel to Columbia, Missouri, to discuss his push for -- prescription drugs?"

"Patients' bill of rights."

"Yes, patients' bill of rights, not prescription drugs. A push for patients' bill of rights. Let me do -"

"He might mention prescription drugs?"

"He might mention it, but the main focus that day will be patients' bill of rights."

"He speaks at the University, CJ?"

"No, I don't know that we have a site yet, but we will be in Columbia. Let me spend -"

"It's the only place he's going that day, it's out and back?"

"Out and back. Let me spend a couple of minutes on prescription drugs, as I raised it, even if inadvertently. I think that you all know that the House passed a prescription drug program that the President addressed earlier today as one that is more empty promises and about political cover rather than prescription drug coverage.

Sometime soon, later on this afternoon, we'll provide you with a side-by-side. But let me give you some of the highlights of the differences in the programs. I think if you looked at some of the reporting on this, there isn't -- I don't think there has been a real examination of exactly what the Republican plan covers. And I think that's important to seniors around this country.

If you look at the plan that the President has put forward on the subject of who is covered, it is very clear because it is in the Medicare system that all seniors and people with disabilities who lack drug coverage today, will get coverage.

If you look at the Republican plan, you will find that less than half of the seniors and people with disabilities who lack drug coverage today would join the plan. And that is a piece of information that is, I think, crucial to this debate, but was only made available by the CBO yesterday late in the day."

  


	2. Jobs And Dungeons 2

****************************

During the press conference, Josh was watching it on his TV in his office, as he so often does. After watching it for a few minutes, Sam came in from the side, unnoticed by Josh. After about a minute of standing behind Josh, Sam finally spoke up, which scared Josh half to death. Upon Sam's startling words, Josh tossed up all the papers that were in his hands at the time.

"Don't do that to me again Sam, what are you trying to do, give a guy a heart-attack?"

"I'm sorry, I've actually been in here for a minute or two. I thought you knew I was in here."

"Well I didn't."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to realize this. Should I come back at another time?"

"No, I was just watching the press briefing."

"Why's she talking about prescription drugs?"

"She made a slip up, and now they have her talking about them. What do you need?"

"Toby told me to drop this off with you. He said you, him, and Leo talked about it, and this was getting tossed in your corner."

"What is it?"

"Appropriations junk."

****************************

Around 2:00 p.m. Butterfield, and a few other secret service agents showed up right outside the Oval Office. About a minute later, Roni, Bobbie, and a few more agents showed up. All in all, there were six secret service agents. After popping into the Oval Office, Charlie came back and told them they could all go in. After everyone was seated on a couch or surrounding chair, Jed finally spoke up.

"Earlier this morning, I had an interesting conversation with my daughter. It turns out she gets very bored around the White House. She feels she doesn't lead an interesting life. She suggested that she would like to get a job. Roni has narrowed her choices down to Sears or Belks, both being in the mall. So, this meeting is to discuss any problems that the secret service might have, if this were to happen."

"Sears, or Belks?"

"Yeah."

"What part? Like in billing, or in customer relations or something?"

"Well I sort of already filled out applications, and have been approved to work as a salesman in the men's department."

"The men's department? Meaning, you'll be having several people coming up to you, none of which would have gone through a background check, approaching you an a daily basis?"

"Yeah."

"And you're serious about this?"

"Yeah. Are you trying to say that it won't work?"

"I think what he is trying to say," Bobbie broke in, "is that this is going to be a nightmare for any agent involved."

****************************

Attempting to read the papers that Sam dropped off for him earlier, Josh was getting very frustrated.

"DONNA!"

A few seconds later, Donna came running into Josh's office. "Yes?"

"Come here. What does this say? I can't read it."

"Let me see, maybe matutinal, or mutational."

"And what does that mean? And what about this word, here? Can you make it out? Oh never mind, I'm just going to go to Toby and have him decipher his writing for me. I'll be back."

****************************

Minutes later, Josh showed up at Toby's door, knocking, with no response, so he decided to just open it and see if Toby was in.

"Did I say you could come in?"

"No."

"Then why did you come in?"

"I can't read your hand-writing, I need you to decipher it for me."

"So when did I say you could come in?"

"You didn't, I'm sorry. It's just that I would really like to get this stuff done, and I need your help to do it."

"What can't you read?" Toby asked as Josh handed him the folder.

"Right here, what's this word, and this one over here...." Josh began to point out words all over the page.

"Would you like me to tell them to you, re-write them for you, or email them to you?"

"You should probably email them to me, that way I can read them."

"Would you like definitions while I'm at it?"

"Nope, just as long as I can read the word, I can look it up myself."

"Which words again?" Toby asked with a pained expression.


	3. Jobs And Dungeons 3

****************************

Carrying a bouquet of flowers into the Oval Office, Mrs. Landingham placed them down on the President's desk, as she began to explain where they came from.

"Sir, a few minutes ago, these flowers arrived for you."

"There's no card. Who are they from?"

"The person wishes to deliver the card on her or his own, and is waiting just outside."

"Okay, send this mystery person in."

"The mystery person demands that you close your eyes. This person doesn't wish to let you know who she or he is until this person is already in the room."

"Mrs. Landingham, who are the flowers from? I'm a very busy man, I don't have time to play guess who."

"I'm sorry Mr. President, but I promised this person that I wouldn't tell you who it was. This person would like to tell you that own her or his own. Shall I send the person in now?"

"Yes, before I get a headache, yes."

"And you're going to close your eyes?"

"Yes, I'll close my eyes."

"No need to raise your voice to me, sir."

"I wasn't raising my voice. Can we just get this over with?" Jed asked, as he closed his eyes. Roni came running in the room as Mrs. Landingham exited, shutting the door behind her. Roni went over to her father, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you daddy."

"Can I open my eyes yet?"

"Yes."

"So these are from you?"

"Yep, do you like them?"

"I like anything from you. So tell me, how did you get Mrs. Landingham to play along with you?"

"Huh?"

"She came in here and she gave me a hard time. She absolutely refused to tell me who you were, normally she would just tell me."

"I guess she likes me." Roni said as a huge grin appeared across her face. "I just wanted to say thank you for helping me convince the service to let me get a job."

Standing up from behind his chair, Jed made his way over to his daughter's side, and put his right arm around her. "Now tell me, why did you only apply to work in the men's section?"

"If I told you that's where they just ended up putting me, would you believe me?"

"No. So which store did you decide on?"

"Well the service likes Belks better, from a security stand point, so that's where I'm gonna work."

"When do you start?"

"Tomorrow."

"So soon?"

"Yes, well I actually started this process about a week or two ago."

"You know, you and I, we're going to have to work on some communication skills."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning that you tend to do stuff, then you tell me about it. Or you just flat out refuse to tell me."

"Tell you what, I promise to communicate better from here on out, to show my appreciation for you helping me get a job."

"So flowers, a kiss, and communication, this is my lucky day."

"Think it's too much?"

"Come here." Jed said as he pulled his daughter into a hug and kissed her on her forehead.

"Well, you actually looked busy when I came in this time, so I'm gonna let you get to work."

"Ok. Thanks for the flowers and all. Later kiddo."

****************************

The next morning, Roni woke up all energized, knowing she was actually going to have something to do that day. At breakfast that morning, Roni found a little box all wrapped up sitting at her place.

"What's this?"

"Just a little present," answered Jed. "Go ahead, open it."

Roni opened the box, to find something else all wrapped up. "This looks like it's a CD."

"Maybe it is, go ahead, open it."

After smiling at her parents for a few seconds, Roni opened up the gift, and to her surprise, she found Matchbox Twenty's CD, Mad Season.

"Cool. But how'd you know I wanted this?"

"We're your parents. We just know these kinds of things."

"Ah."

****************************

After breakfast, Roni went on her, now, ritual walk through the halls, where she ran into Sam.

"Hi Sam. Guess what."

"What?"

"I got a job."

"Congratulations." Sam said, as he gave Roni a hug. "So where you working?"

"The men's department at Belks."

"Does your father know?"

"Yep, he helped me talk the service into it." Roni said with a smile on her face.

"Cool. So does this mean you'll give me discounts and stuff whenever I'm there?" Sam smiled back.

"Only if you come and see me every once in a while."

"Deal. So when do you start?"

"Today, in a few hours."

"Really? Such short notice?"

"Yes, well I've actually known for about two weeks now. Where you headed?"

"Oval Office. We have a staff meeting in a few minutes."

"Ok. Well I'm gonna go walk through the halls some more. See ya later." Roni said as the two parted ways.


	4. Jobs And Dungeons 4

****************************

Roni's first day of work seemed to be going just fine. She met her new boss, and they got along great. Then it came time for her training. Roni's boss decided to pair her up with an 18-year-old guy to train her. The guy recognized Roni right from the start, but decided not to say anything. He figured she probably was told who she was often enough, she didn't need to hear it from him. Roni definitely took a liking to Brad, her trainer. He was tall, handsome, and a good dresser. He had sandy blond hair, and deep blue eyes. Brad, it seemed, also took a liking to Roni, for at the end of the day, he asked her out, as friends of course.

"So, Roni, wanna go get like a burger or something? Not as a date, but you know, just to hang"

"Sure. But I'm gonna have to bring a bunch of people with us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've probably noticed that I'm the daughter of the President, and as such, I get stuck with a secret service detail. They're gonna have to know where we're going before we get there, and they're gonna have to tag along. Is that a problem?"

"No. No problem. The more the merrier."

****************************

The next day on her rounds around the White House, Roni again ran into a member of the senior staff, only this time, it was CJ.

"I hear congratulations are in order."

"On what? The guy or the job?"

"The job. There's a guy?"

"Yeah, well, there could be."

"What's his name?"

"Brad."

"Where'd you meet Brad?"

"At work. I tell ya CJ, this job thing was a better idea than I originally thought it was going to be."

"Sounds like it."

"Hey, I hate to cut this short, but I was actually headed in to see Josh."

"Sure, no problem. I have some things I need to do anyway. Nice talking to you, good luck with the job and the guy."

"Thanks." Roni replied as she stepped into Josh's office.

"Hey, there Roni. What's up?"

"Got a job."

"Really?"

"Don't act all surprised, I know dad told you. I also know you're the one that picked out my congrats-on-getting-the-job present. Thanks."

"No problem. So did I hear correctly, is there a guy in your life, besides me?"

"Yeah, there's definitely the potential anyway."

"Does your father know yet? Cause if he doesn't, he's gonna have a cow."

"He knows. I told him last night, but currently, we're just friends." Roni said as Leo entered the office behind her.

"Good morning Roni, I believe congratulations are in order on the job."

"Thank you Mr...."

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Leo."

"Right, sorry. It's just we haven't every really talked, so I'm just not used to calling you Leo, but I promise, I'm gonna start trying."

"So you haven't been trying yet?"

"That's not what I meant. What I meant was....ok, I'm gonna go now, I have to get ready for work."

"Bye," the three said almost simultaneously, as Roni walked off.

"What do you need Leo?"

"Huh? Oh, I um, I came to see if your done with the appropriations bill."

"I've finished reading all of the stuff, yeah."

"Good, you're coming with me."

"Where are we going?" Josh said as he got up.

"You're going to a meeting with some congressmen."

"But I thought you said I was going with you?"

"You are," Leo confirmed.

"Now I'm confused. Am I going to this meeting alone?"

"Yes."

"But I thought you said I was going with you? If you're not coming with me, why am I going with you?" Josh asked in a very confused tone.

"Cause I wanted to brief you on the meeting before you showed up to it, but I have other things I can be doing right now Josh."

"No, no. That's alright. Take all the time you need."


	5. Jobs And Dungeons 5

****************************

After about a week of working very closely with each other, and hanging out as friends, Brad finally got up enough courage to ask Roni out on a real date. That night, after they got off work, they went out on the town, where they had a late night dinner, and talked about work, music, and other typical teen stuff. The two had a really good time, and by the end of the date Brad told Roni how much he liked her. He told her that for the past few months, he has followed stories about her in the news, for he was very interested in her. All this made Roni blush, which is when he asked her out again. Roni, of course agreed, but no definite plans were made.

That night, when Roni returned from her date with Brad, Jed and Abbey were waiting up for her, to hear how her day of work went, as they seemed to grow accustomed to.

"You're getting back rather late."

"Yeah."

"So where you been?"

"Out."

"This we know. But where exactly is 'out'?"

"I went out on a date after work, with a guy I work with."

"Damn, I knew I should have built that dungeon. Think it's too late?"

Realizing Jed was becoming the crazed father he is when it comes to his daughter's dating. Abbey ignored him as she asked, "What's his name?"

"Brad."

"Brad?" Brad what? Who said you could go on a date?"

"Don't pay any attention to him Roni, he always gets like this when one of his little girl's goes out on a date. Is this the same Brad you've been spending time with as friends lately?

"Yeah."

"So you're more than friends now?"

"Yeah, I'd like to think so."

"What do you mean, 'I always get like this'? Like what?"

"Shh, I want to hear about Brad. So tell me, is he cute? What's he look like?"

"Yes, please do tell, so I can have him hunted down."

****************************

The next day at work, Roni approached Brad, who hadn't really taken his eye off of her all day long.

"Hey Brad. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I had fun last night."

"Yeah, me too."

"Maybe we can do that again sometime."

"Yeah."

"How about tonight? We could go ice skating down at the ice palace or something."

"Sounds like fun. Hey, listen, my dad wants to meet you."

"What?"

"My dad, he wants to meet you."

"But your dad is the President of the United States."

"Yes."

"And he wants to meet with me?"

"Yes. Just the typical, your-friends-with-my-daughter-and-are-now dateing-her-so-it's-time-I-get-to-know-you kind of meeting. Perfectly harmless."

"Your father controls the entire military Roni, he's not harmless."

"Don't worry, my mom will be there to keep him in check."

"The First Lady as well? This just keeps getting better and better."

"Don't worry, they'll love you. It'll be great."

"If you say so."

"So when's a good time for you?"

"How about a minute after I die?"

"Come on Brad, you're not afraid are you?"

"No. How about tomorrow, before work. Then we can come in together."

"Yeah, sure. Sounds like fun."

****************************

The next day, around noon, Jed went back to the residence, for his lunch meeting with Brad. On his way there, he ran into Abbey, and the two walked the rest of the distance with Jed's arm draped over Abbey. Along the way, Abbey spoke to Jed, assuring herself that he wasn't going to get all crazed, as he has been known to do when it comes to his daughters dating. When they reached the residence, Roni and Brad were waiting in the living room area. Jed and Abbey stood back for a minute, unnoticed, until Roni noticed the them.

"Mom, dad, hi. This is Brad. Brad, these are my parents."

The End 


End file.
